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Breakthrough in blood clots testing

A British-led research team has revealed a study which will help medical professionals to understand why some people are at an increased risk of coronary heart disease than others.

Professors from the the Universities of Leicester and Cambridge, who led the international team, revealed the innovative findings will help identify people who could suffer from heart attack-inducing blood clots.

The research, published in the haematology journal Blood, is part of Bloodomics’s project, which aims to find novel genes regulating platelets - the small cells in the blood that clump together to create a blood clot.

Insight into what causes these cells to be more prone to sticking together in certain people, compared to others, could help the development of potential treatment of cardiovascular disease.

Funded by the EU, Professor Alison Goodall from the University of Leicester and Professor Willem Ouwehand from the University of Cambridge and NHS Blood and Transplant worked alongside researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, University College Dublin, and the University of Leuven.

Professor Ouwehand said: “This type of study will help us to unravel the complex question of why some people have a higher risk of a heart attack than others. One day this type of research may lead to a new generation of drugs that can be used to reduce the risk of this devastating disease.”